A ‘Broken Samaya’ Story as Told by Lama Dawa

People like funny anecdotes, because they make them laugh. Acharya Dawa Chhodak Rinpoche, dear Lama Dawa now inseparable ever-present dharmakaya, was a master storyteller, and he made us laugh often and a lot.  He could make fun of everything, even the most serious issues.  He could also make fun of himself.  He was one of the least stuck-up people that I have ever had the pleasure to associate with.  First he would make us laugh.  Then he would turn serious.  Then laugh again. When he laughed the second time, the audience was often left aghast.  Should we laugh?  Or should we cry?

He told me the following story of a broken samaya at least on three different occasions, so he must have attached some importance to giving this as an example for how muddled and befuddled everything is in the ‘brave new western Buddhist world’.  For those who don’t know the meaning of samaya: simply put, these are pledges and promises not to be broken.  In tantra our word is our bond.  If you cannot trust your own word, the bond is torn.  If you cannot build a stupa on the solidity of your own word, the essence of the teachings will vanish into thin air.  I don’t know if Lama shared this same story with many others.  Little does it matter, if he did or didn’t.  What matters is that it sheds a not very flattering light, on our typical approach to and our all too often general lack of respect for the sacredness of the Buddhist tantric teachings, not to mention the integrity of the guru, or the inviolability of our own word. 

“One day many years ago”, Lama Dawa began, “one western dharma friend came to see me (at which point he named the person by name), offering a kata for requesting a teaching and said, ‘Lama Dawa, Chatral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche is sending me to you.  He has given me all the empowerments for all the Dudjom Tersar protectors, except Rahula.  He said that I should come to you and that you would certainly give me the Rahula teaching and empowerment if I requested them from you in his name.’”

At which point Lama Dawa paused to let that sink in.  He also chuckled. Then he continued.

“I wasn’t sure (more directly stated: ‘I knew this was a lie’).  That’s why I asked him to come back some other time. Now, it so happened that a few days later I met Chatral Rinpoche in Pharping himself.  I told him about the request, which made him chuckle as well.  Then Sangye Dorje explained why.  ‘This is indeed curious, as the same person had come to see me a few weeks ago with the same request, stating that Lama Dawa had given him all the protectors except for Rahula, and that Lama Dawa had then sent him to me for Rahula teachings and empowerments.’  Sangye Dorje and I both had a good laugh.”

Lama Dawa paused again.  He laughed merrily then added, “Some people are just too clever for their own good.”  Then he crinkled his face as if in pain. “All samaya was broken, totally broken.  How to put that back together again, I don’t know.”  Stated differently: this person’s word is worthless.  It is like a broken bond.  How could I possibly trust him and work with him?  How could he possibly progress?

Should we laugh now, or should we cry?

And yet there wasn’t the least bit of complaining in Lama’s voice when he told the story.  He didn’t blame the person.  There was actually only a sense of all-penetrating love.  There was no value judgment in his voice, only a deep tinge of sadness.  He had just stated something, which from his point of view clearly could be regarded as a sign that the essence of the teachings won’t survive for much longer, even though their lifeless empty shell might stick around for quite a while.

Everyone is free to draw his or her own conclusions.